Many social media enthusiasts are ready to enter the industry but don’t know where to start. Popular social media careers include social media marketing, social media management, and social media analysis. However, your knowledge and skills will determine the one you’ll choose.
The main responsibility of a social media professional is to help brands curate their online presence across different platforms. You need both soft and hard skills to thrive in the digital world. Acquiring the following skills will open doors of opportunity for you as you work your way up the career ladder.
Hard skills
Hard skills are tangible skills that help you handle your responsibilities as a social media professional. Here are the in-demand ones:
1. Marketing
You need in-depth knowledge of both traditional and digital marketing to fast-track your career growth. More so, you’ll dissect the factors that influence customers’ buying decisions to unravel patterns.
Social media professionals are savvy marketers who often explore various tactics for better reach and drive more revenue. If you’re ready to hone your marketing skills, learn from expert marketers by subscribing to their newsletters and following them on social media.
2. Content creation
Text-based content is the foundation of every social media strategy. Such content must be original if you want to get impressive results. At times, you may need to share content from other sources. The rule of thumb in such an instance is to seek permission and credit the original creator.
Social media professionals use copywriting and storytelling skills to connect with their audience as they entertain, educate, or inspire them. They maximize AI tools to create and polish content.
It’s important to invest in visual content such as graphic design and videos too. Taking this approach will help you boost engagement.
3. Data analysis
Data is useful for identifying your target audience and creating buyer personas. Top social media managers can read and interpret data. Besides, they usually think critically when analyzing data and won’t hesitate to share unbiased perspectives about each strategy.
They understand the psychology behind trends due to their wealth of experience. Once they spot patterns, the next step is to offer actionable insights. They must share reports with decision makers and will keep an eye on data day in and out.
You’ll leverage both social media metrics and business metrics to evaluate performance. It’s never too early to research the best ways for protecting social media data from hackers.
4. Research
In-depth research is the key to capturing the important details that regular social media users can’t see. This skill is also essential for any social media manager who wants to help his brand stay ahead of the curve and create relevant content.
Experienced managers know the best places to get data. This is the reason they rarely share wrong information with users. They often use powerful research tools to learn more about their competitors and target audience.
Many business owners rely on social media professionals to hire and onboard new team members. Your research skills will help you to quickly determine whether a candidate is a good fit or not for your organization.
5. Social media strategy
You must know how to design and execute powerful social media strategies for promoting your brand, expanding its reach, and generating leads. It’s your responsibility to set clear goals and objectives for your brand’s marketing plan too.
Soft skills
Serial entrepreneur and social media expert, Gary Vaynerchuk recently said that soft skills are the emerging superpowers of business.
Simply put, soft skills are personality-based traits that will increase your chances of securing good jobs. These skills complement your hard skills but are not peculiar to any industry or profession. It’s not enough to include them in your resume; you have to put them to good use.
1. Community building
Social media is about building responsive communities. You’ll rarely work alone even if you have several hard skills, especially when you’re working with a large firm. Therefore, it’s better to learn how to work in synergy with a team to achieve results.
Social media professionals use emotional intelligence whenever they are interacting with customers, teammates, or partners.
Their communication and customer care skills have been refined over the years. Another thing is that they will prioritize their brand’s voice and tone as they address customers’ complaints or contribute to trending topics.
You will likely train and collaborate with other team members as a community manager. That said, keep honing your communication skills.
2. Organization
A social media professional must have strong organizational skills with the ability to multitask. Smart managers rely on social media calendars and scheduling tools to simplify their processes and save time.
These experts can easily adapt to changes, react quickly to important events, and design a flexible strategy that cut across each platform. They also develop strategies for minimizing stress so that they can have a work-life balance.
3. Curiosity
It takes curiosity to learn new concepts and follow trends. You’ll always find social media managers updating their knowledge base and sharing value.
Apart from having a high level of curiosity, they know how to integrate relevant trends into social media strategies and campaigns. You should never be tired of learning if you want to discover premium social media job opportunities online and build your authority.
4. Creativity
Business owners are looking for tech-savvy people who can think out of the box and take initiative. Creativity is a skill that will never go out of style. It will help you stand out in a competitive niche, and it’s essential for every industry.
5. Networking
Honing your networking skills will help you pitch your message to prospective clients and sell your ideas to decision-makers. It can also boost your confidence when handling internal or external communications. You need an entrepreneurship mindset to remain on top of your game.
There you have it. The good thing is that you can always learn these skills by taking online courses. Apart from that, it’s high time to focus on your personal brand. Learning never ends in the social media landscape, so get ready to keep perfecting your craft throughout your career.
